Jason Knows
by StillThereForMe
Summary: Even if he didn’t understand why Chad wasn’t hanging out with Troy or why the two were fighting all the time during the summer, Jason noticed that Chad was spending time with Ryan Evans. And Jason knew before anybody. Chyan, Jartha For poppyfields13


Hey everyone, this oneshot again I think is a bit of a stray from my usual style since I'm still getting together from my past horrible week.

But anyway, this fic is a bunch of many special things, and ended up being one of the longest oneshots i've ever written (and to think when I started writing it I thought it would only be a really short character study).

First off, it's my apology fic for always showing Jason in a pretty bad light in my longer fics.

And second, it's dedicated to **poppyfields13**, one of my best reviewers and constant readers, despite her love of Jason and my mistreatment of him due to process of elimination...(she knows what I'm talking about). This fic was totally written with her in mind, to hopefully make up for me always writing Jason evil.

This is also my first Jartha, another present for poppyfields13 since I know she loves the couple. :)

It ended up being a little fluffier than most of my other stories...but I just feel it'd be kind of mean to give an angsty fic as a gift. Although it's plenty dramatic too. But for me it's fluffy. Then again though, given what I've already put Jason through...he deserves some fluff.

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**Jason Knows**

**By: **StillThereForMe

**For**: poppyfields13 (and Jason)

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Jason had realized years ago that he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box. He wasn't stupid, or slow…just oblivious to things that seemed obvious to everyone else. He didn't know why certain things had to be frustratingly spelled out to him by his friends, or why he didn't understand when people were giggling at some joke that went over his head. Jason _still_ didn't know why everyone always groaned and glared at him when he asked Ms. Darbus personal questions—he thought he was just being polite but apparently nobody else seemed to. The same dilemma existed for why Kelsi liked _him_. Jason was never as popular with cheerleaders or fans or any girl as his teammates were like Troy and Chad, and even Zeke had a small fanclub too. Maybe _that_ was the reason why he didn't notice the piano-girl's sudden interest in him—he was just so used to being "the somewhat close friend and teammate of the most popular guy in school," he didn't recognize that there was a female person that wanted to get close to him not for his connections, but for him. It just didn't register in his mind until Zeke informed him one day that Kelsi had a crush on him—despite Zeke insisting that the girl was always looking and blushing at him, and he'd have to be blind not to see it. How was he supposed to know she wasn't just really warm or gazing off into space or there was anything significant at all in the way she spoke to him over anybody else? The most depressing part of it was though, that he didn't return the shy girl's feelings. Which annoyed him too—why did the first girl who _liked_ him have to be one that he didn't like back as anything more than a friend? Just his luck. And Jason sucked at hiding his feelings, so he couldn't even pretend to like her that way just for the sake of having a girlfriend. His eyes were actually on a different girl he'd gotten close to that summer…but that's a different subject. 

He had learned to accept his obliviousness over the years and decided to just trust his friends to explain certain things to him if they were important. Jason didn't like to worry or stress about problems, because doing so had yet to ever prove helpful in his life. He supposed he was optimistic in that sense, a glass half-full kind of guy—which may also explain why he didn't understand what the hell was going on at Lava Springs between Troy and Sharpay and Gabriella. And the only reason he knew it involved them, was because everyone kept repeating their names all of the time, though _no one_ would sit down and tell him what happened! And that was something that really annoyed him because despite probably being the last name thought of when listing people in their group to invite to parties, Jason really did sincerely care about his friends more than anything.

He wasn't the greatest basketball player, and to be honest he really didn't love the sport half as much as he probably should have given that he's on the team. Jason could list probably a thousand other activities he'd rather be doing than going to practice to get yelled at by Coach Bolton for one reason or another nearly every day after school during basketball season, and he definitely did not have a future professional career in the sport in his plans or dreams (maybe not even a future in the sport in college—short of using it to get a scholarship of course). The only reason he stayed on the team was because it was something that meant he could hang out with his friends. Sure, they teased him and more than once he'd gotten lightly hit in the back of the head for not catching onto something quick enough, but they also listened to him and joked around with him and simply had fun together. And to Jason, that meant an awful lot. He was extremely proud to be a Wildcat, even if it meant playing a sport he really wasn't that into.

And maybe because it meant so much to him, that was why Jason wasn't completely oblivious to every drama and twist that happened within the "Wildcat" group. In fact, he was pretty sure he was the first one to notice—and perhaps the only one that entire summer. Because even if he didn't get why Chad wasn't hanging out with Troy and the two were fighting all the time, Jason noticed that Chad was hanging out with Ryan Evans.

He was surprised nobody seemed to see it at the baseball game. Jason had never seen that interested and curious look on Chad's face before. And he hadn't seen Chad look that happy and having that much fun in days since he and Troy weren't getting along. Not to mention after the game, he noticed (granted, it was a couple of hours _after_ the game but he _did _notice!) that somewhere along the line, Ryan and Chad had switched clothes. But when he saw the way Chad was looking at Ryan, Jason decided it probably wouldn't be right for once to point that out. So (with some difficulty as he's normally thrilled to inform others when he picks up on something) Jason kept quiet about it and decided to just watch the two boys and figure out what was going on.

When Troy began hanging out with Sharpay for whatever reason he was, Jason (with much regret as it meant he wouldn't be able to watch or attempt to talk to a certain beautiful and funny girl in the kitchen) ended up having to waiter much more than earlier that summer—with Chad. And he began to realize that whenever the male Evans twin entered the Lava Springs restaurant, Chad _always_ offered quickly to take his table—regardless if he was already at a different one or even in the middle of taking an order, which left Jason to have to step in for him a lot and more often than not him dropping a tray or plate because he was waiting on more tables at a time than he probably should. And when Chad rushed off to wait on Ryan, Jason also noticed that Chad spent a particularly and unusually long time taking the blond boy's order, and went back to "check up" on how Ryan was doing far more times than necessary. Most of the time Chad didn't want to go check up on people after serving them because he found it annoying and embarrassing and pointless. But apparently, that didn't apply when it came to Ryan.

Jason slowly started to connect the dots when he began to start seeing how after whenever Chad hung out with Ryan (which became increasingly often), he would have a big silly grin on his face like Troy used to when he first started dating Gabriella. And that Ryan all of a sudden became a much more common sight in the Lava Springs kitchen, sometimes using the excuse about talking about their number in the show, but mostly apparently talking privately with Chad. Ryan seemed to also get that goofy grin afterwards too, although Ryan's grin had much more of a shyness to it and was sometimes coupled with blushing, while Chad's grin was so wide it showed his teeth and had a dazed look in his eye. Jason later began to notice that Chad liked to touch Ryan when they spoke. Chad virtually never touched Taylor's arm, or sat closer than necessary to her so their arms brushed when they moved, and he definitely not even to his friends used every opportunity he had to use physical gestures (lightly hitting the back of the head, touching the shoulder to emphasize the other to pay attention—even when the said other already was, grabbing the other's hand to tease him about the food he was about to eat, throwing an arm around the other person's back when laughing about something he said) in conversation. Sure, Chad was expressive when he spoke and energetic, and had thrown his arm around his friends more than once before, but he did it _all the time_ with Ryan. And while Ryan also was fairly flamboyant, he never really made physical contact with another _male_ often—females he had no problem hugging, but Ryan was even hesitant to shake hands with most of the other guys. So the blame of Chad's fondness for touching the blond couldn't fall on Ryan either.

He actually began to get a little theory in his head (which he was_ immensely_ proud of himself for doing though he was still keeping quiet about his little investigation into Chad's new friendship), when he found out one day that apparently sometime over the course of the summer Chad and Taylor had broken up. (Jason had been two weeks behind to find out when they had originally started dating, and was now almost a month behind finding out they had broken up…as much as he relied and trusted his friends to let him in on when he's being oblivious, it can be frustrating when they aren't punctual about it) It had apparently been a mutual thing according to his reliable informants Zeke and Martha, although no one was exactly sure of the reason why. Zeke figured that they had never been really romantically compatible to begin with (not like him and Sharpay of course) and were simply better suited as friends. Martha, however, because she was as perceptive and empathic a human being as she was beautiful and funny (in his spare time Jason wondered how she could possibly be so perfect a human being and still single), thought that maybe Chad had fallen for someone else, because he seemed so much happier nowadays since he and Troy had started this fight—unless of course Troy comes in the room or does something stupid to piss him off more, but he wasn't angry about his best friend _most_ of the time now. He found out then, that apparently Martha also was doing a little investigation of her own, to try and figure out who the other person was while she worked in the kitchen. Jason promised to keep an eye out for her when he and Chad worked as waiters together, although he didn't tell her he already had suspicions (he had made his own _suspicions! _If only his teachers knew…) about who the "other person" was. He wanted to totally figure it out on his own first.

His theories weren't confirmed, however, until one night shortly after Gabriella had quit her job. Jason's locker was stuck and he couldn't totally remember his combination. Gabriella had always been the one to go to Mr. Fulton and ask to borrow the master key for the lockers for Jason because the older man terrified him. But since she had quit, Jason heavily sighed and sucked up his courage to trudge to the main building to find his boss. Although Lava Springs was a very large place, and that coupled with the fact that it looked very different late in the evening after the sun had already set, Jason wasn't too surprised to find himself suddenly lost. His wandering path led him somehow to the pool Gabriella used to lifeguard, and _was_ a bit surprised to hear voices—especially since Fulton was usually really adamant about not letting anyone in after-hours. But then when he realized whose voices they were (one of which could probably get away with breaking the rules), the black haired boy quickly ducked behind the fence and crept up quietly to listen in on their conversation (most of the boys on the basketball team were Charlie's Angels/"secret agent"-type movie fans, in no small part thanks to Troy showing those movies at pretty much every after game party at his house. So now every time they had the opportunity to do something sneaky and mission like---for example, conspiring with the brainiacs to split Gabriella and Troy up, and then getting the Golden Couple to auditions on time despite the Decathlon and playoff game going on at the same time—they always went over the top to live out their secret fantasy).

Ryan and Chad were lounging in one of the chaises (which was apparently the specific name for those large chairs by the pool, as Sharpay had once yelled at him in correction), together. Ryan was slightly on top (though really more tightly next to) and resting his head on Chad's chest very comfortably, gazing at the pool water, which was glowing from the reflection of the lights around it. Chad had one arm resting under his head and the other wrapped around Ryan's waist, and was staring at the sky (the umbrella which normally were directly over the chaise had been very obviously moved right all the way over to the next chair).

"I just still can't believe after Gabriella quitting and all the employees being forced to work on show night, Troy's _still_ going through with singing with your sister." Chad complained, though more with his words than the tone of his voice—which to Jason's ears, sounded more like his friend was about to fall asleep than was actually angry.

"Troy could still change his mind. The show's a couple of days away; he might decide not to do it." Ryan suggested, adjusting his head to more comfortably lie against the darker boy's chest. "And Gabriella could always come back too."

"You sound like you know something…" Chad looked down curiously, prompting Ryan to turn his head slightly and look up at him with a tiny smile.

"I may have set some wheels in motion." Ryan grinned with a teasing voice.

"You going to tell me what you're up to?" Chad questioned with a smirk, rubbing his one hand up and down Ryan's back.

"It's a surprise. But you'll find out soon." Ryan moved up to place his lips against the darker boy's, who quickly met them and deepened the kiss. Then when they parted, the blond nuzzled his cheek against the crook of Chad's neck, and then rested his head there. "And if everything goes well, I think you'll be happy with the result."

"I hope so…" Chad groaned looking back up at the sky. "Troy's been acting like such an ass lately."

"…I should get you to start doing yoga." Ryan suddenly stated.

"…okay, that was random. You've got my attention." Chad laughed and sat up a little more, forcing Ryan to do the same given the way they were laying. "What's with the sudden change of topic?"

"It's not," Ryan protested with a smile. "It'll just relax you, make you feel less stressed and…tense."

"Isn't yoga when you like, sit with your legs crossed the wrong way and chant something weird?" Chad scrunched his nose in disinterest. "It sounds boring and weird…"

"There's a lot more to it than that! You do all of these different poses and it seriously relaxes you a lot once you get the hang of it. Remember? You came to pick me up at the yoga center for our golf game the other day? You saw the end of it." The blond boy reminded the other.

"_That_ was yoga? All that stretching and stuff?" Chad exclaimed surprised.

"_Yes_," Ryan nodded with a laugh at Chad's shock.

"Okay, I'm in." Chad quickly declared.

"…just like that? You gave in fast…" Ryan stared a bit confused, as he had many more pro-yoga arguments for Chad he had planned to use.

"Well…if taking yoga means I get to watch you stretch and twist and do all those interesting poses…yeah, it sounds like fun. Although you're teaching me one-on-one of course, I'm not taking that class with all of those old people." Chad grinned a bit perverted and pulled Ryan more on top of him.

Ryan laughed and shook his head. "You realize _you'll_ have to do all of those stretches and poses too…they're not as easy as they look."

Chad paused to exaggeratedly think for a moment, before turning back with a nod. "Yeah, I think it might be worth it."

Ryan laughed, shaking his head. "Alright then. I'm going to quote you on that later."

And Jason from behind the fence slowly started to make his way back, figuring he had enough proof of what was going on between the two boys. Although he probably had enough when they kissed, he figured if he was going to really prove his theory like a real scientist, he'd better make sure there wasn't some other weird but perfectly logical reason for Chad and Ryan to be lying in a bedlike chair together and kissing each other. But from the sounds of things, he figured by now he was pretty sure Ryan and Chad were dating, or at least Ryan was definitely the other person Chad was interested in. Jason was happy for his friend, given how great a mood Ryan seemed to put him in. He was even more proud though, that he'd figured it all out on his own. He must not be _that_ oblivious to everything then.

Jason sort of expected the next day, since he had proven his own theory beyond reasonable doubt, everyone else had probably figured it out by then too. Although an hour into his job, he finally realized if anyone knew anything, nobody was mentioning it or showing it. And that was when Jason felt himself thrust into a very uncomfortable position. He couldn't tell anyone what he'd discovered. He couldn't really impress any of his buddies with his intelligence and spy skills. If he did, he could very well end up totally destroying his friendship with Chad and possibly turning some of their other friends against him too.

He didn't want to "out" his friend, but then that meant no one would know that he saw it coming before anyone else. So, suddenly much more disappointed and feeling more stupid for not having realized this sooner than he had ever felt before, he reluctantly decided that he was going to have to let his discovery stay a secret. Jason trudged through his job unhappily and with practically no energy. Quite the opposite of Chad, who had a large smile plastered to his face and at some points of the day had even been caught humming, resembling some girly scene from Disney movie. Which though he was happy his friend was happy…just made Jason feel worse.

Until he felt some excited tapping on his shoulder while he was scrubbing some plates. Jason turned and dropped the plate in his hands when he saw Martha's excited, smiling face looking back at him (though thankfully, he was relieved to see the plate hadn't broken…unlike four others he'd dropped earlier that day due to simply not focusing on what he was doing). Martha giggled politely at Jason's reaction, causing the poor boy to blush and quickly pick up the plate and try to continue to clean it calmly so he didn't end up looking _too_ idiotic in front of her.

"Sorry to surprise you, but I just _had _to tell you something!" Martha explained, eyes sparkling and voice hushed, forcing Jason to lean in closer to her to hear her better (or so would be his excuse if asked). "You remember how the other day we were talking about how Chad might have broken up with Taylor because he liked someone else? And that's why he's acting so much happier now?"

"Yeah," Jason nodded more than answered.

"Well, these past couple of days I noticed something…even though you know we can't really do the talent show, he's _still_ going to practice music for it with Kelsi and Ryan, like every other day. And he _always_ comes back with that happy grin on his face! So I think that person he likes about might be _Kelsi_!" Martha explained excitedly, with a look on her face that obviously was expecting Jason to become excited about this news too. "I mean, Chad always comes back looking so happy after those rehearsals and stuff, and I don't think it's because he loves performing!"

Jason wanted to tell her she was wrong, and share the real reason for why Chad was enjoying those rehearsals so much, but he hesitated because he didn't want to "out" his friend. But then, he wanted to impress Martha. But he didn't want for anybody who might hurt Chad for it know his secret. But then Jason trusted Martha…

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Martha suddenly interrupted his thoughts, and brought her hands towards her mouth in horror. "I totally forgot! You like Kelsi right? I'm so sorry! I just got so excited about finding out and wanted to tell you, that I wasn't even thinking…"

"No! No! It's nothing like that!" Jason quickly protested, and looked around to make sure he wasn't attracting attention. He then grabbed Martha's hand and walked over towards a more secluded corner. "It's just, um…"

"What is it Jason?" Martha looked at him with concern.

"I uh, don't think it's Kelsi that Chad likes." Jason muttered.

"Well, who do you think it is?" The tall girl prodded gently.

"Well…" and just as Jason was about to go into probably the most roundabout ramble that probably wouldn't have made sense, the male Evans twin chose to walk into the kitchen. "Ryan!"

"Ryan?" Martha repeated confused, before seeing the other boy had walked in. "Oh, _Ryan_…"

"No! Yes, Ryan!" Jason quickly nodded his head, only confusing the girl more.

"…what?" Martha tilted her head to the side, trying to decipher what the dark-haired boy was saying.

"Yes! _Ryan! _I mean…" In his rush to explain he touched the brown-haired girl's shoulder and pointed to Chad. "Just—watch Chad's face!"

And sure enough, Ryan Evans made his way smiling over to the darker boy, explaining that apparently Chad had forgotten something in the rehearsal room. And the moment Chad turned around and saw the blond boy; his face lit up with a smile that no one else except the two "spies" in the corner seemed to notice.

"Oh…" Martha's eyes widened and mouth slightly opened as she grasped what Jason was hinting at.

"You see, I sort of started thinking it after that baseball game, because Chad seemed to be having so much fun during it, you know?" Jason attempted to explain, worried that he wasn't being clear enough.

"You're right…"

"And, you know, they've been hanging out together a lot lately and the more they hang out the happier Chad seems to get. And he's always getting all giddy and everything whenever Ryan's in the restaurant and goes and checks on him a million times…"

"That's true…!"

"And…well, you know after that baseball game…"

"Oh my gosh, they switched clothes!" Martha excitedly finished for him in a whisper, grinning as she turned to him. "Jason you're a genius! I can't believe you noticed all of that! That's amazing!"

Jason thought he might have a heart attack or faint or fall over at having received those impossible comments from that girl in that second. But a minute later he was still breathing, and started moving again, and hadn't ended up on the floor so he just smiled instead.

"Uh…thanks…well, you know you were the one who figured out why Chad and Taylor broke up…" Jason rubbed the back of his neck as his face turned beet red.

"Yeah, but _you _were the one who noticed all of those details and things! You didn't get distracted by all of that Troy drama and were able to pick up and put all those pieces together and solve the mystery! You're so perceptive."

Jason's face fell at the word he didn't know. "…perceptif?"

But Martha's praise for him didn't die down; she simply smiled and explained "It means you notice things that most people don't."

"Oh…thank you."

"You're welcome!" Martha smiled. "When do you think they'll come out to all of us?"

"…I dunno," Jason shrugged. "They seem to be pretty open now, just nobody notices…"

"True." Martha nodded with a grin, turning to look back at the boys flirting in the middle of the room that nobody else saw but them. "Well, I can't wait until they do. They're so cute."

"They are?" Jason turned to look at his friends, turning his head to the side as if he'd discover the hidden cuteness by seeing them in a different angle.

Of course, it was when he was doing this that Chad noticed the two staring at him and Ryan.

"What are you guys doing?" Chad called across the room, grabbing everyone's attention to which once again, Jason thought he would have a heart attack or drop dead for a very different reason.

"We're…uh…" Jason froze up, but Martha came to his rescue.

"Just talking about how smart Jason is." The tall girl smiled and practically skipped back to her station.

Chad just looked back at Jason even more confused, as did most of the room. But Jason was too busy _beaming_ with pride and confidence from the compliment.

"…what?" Chad simply asked, slightly chuckling.

Yet, Jason was undeterred by the small insult, simply grinned "yup!" and walked back to his station proudly, hands in his pockets and head held high, managing to not trip once on the entire way there.

Because Jason wasn't totally oblivious.

Because Jason was more _perceptive_ than anyone else there.

Because Jason figured it out before practically everybody.

Jason knew.

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This was actually a _lot_ of fun to write, and I'm proud to say was written in ONE DAY. Don't ask how it got that long in that short a time...it's Disney magic!! (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) 

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you're trying to distract yourself (from a terrible week).

I just hope it came out well. Because just because I had fun writing it doesn't mean it's any good...although I really hope it is given it's a gift fic...

;) Reviews always welcome, and hopefully I'm forgiven somewhat for making Jason a jerk in a bunch of my other stories. Sorry Jason!


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